Ecclesiastes 12:6
in Ecclesiastes 12Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is crushed, before the pitcher is shattered at the spring and the wheel is broken at the well,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,
KJV
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 12
Commentary
14 notes on this verseOr ever the silver cord be loosed - We have already had all the external evidences of old age, with all its attendant infirmities; next follow what takes place in the body, in order to produce what is called death, or the separation of body and soul. 1. The silver cord - The medulla oblongata or spinal marrow, from which all the nerves proceed, as itself does from the brain. This is termed a cord, from its exact similitude to one; and a silver cord, from its color, as it strikingly exhibits the silver gray; and from its preciousness.
This site's exposition
the silver cord be loosed
on Ecclesiastes 12:6-8
Death arrives in four images of broken preciousness, the silver cord, the golden bowl, the pitcher at the fountain, the wheel at the cistern: a lamp falling when its cord gives way and a well whose drawing gear fails, life pictured as light and water cut off at their source. Verse 7 then speaks without figure and answers Genesis at both ends: the dust returns to the earth as it was (Gen 3:19), and the spirit returns unto God who gave it (Gen 2:7), which the bench reads as the book's furthest sight past the sun. Vanity of vanities at 12:8 closes the exact frame opened at 1:2, the phrase standing at those two verses and nowhere else in the book, so the whole search sits inside one repeated verdict.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
By "gold" in Scripture one has to understand the spirit; but if one understands by "silver" the spoken word, we have to understand here by "gold" the thought and by bowl the sphere of reason, since it is the bowl and storage place for gold. …
Some are able to drink from the fountain without the pitcher. Rebecca, which means steadfastness in the good, stepped down to the fountain and scooped the water with the pitcher in order to give the thirsty servant [of Abraham] to drink; but she herself drank …
Neither stored silver nor tested gold will be of any further use. A mighty blow will strike everything, right down to a water pot standing next to a well, and to a carriage wheel which happens to have been left in the ditch, its time …
"Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern."
One can understand the "cistern" accordingly: Inasmuch as it is possible to scoop water from a fountain with a pitcher, it is also possible to pull up water from a cistern with a water wheel. When there is no need any more to pull up …
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
He touches on the miseries following death, which are the dissolution of the body and the migration of the spirit to God. First is noted the dissolution of the sinews, when he says: "Before the silver cord is broken," and the phrase must be repeated: …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The conclusion, All is vanity, ver. 8. The preacher's end in this book, ver. 9-12. The sum of all, to fear God and keep his commandments, in consideration of the judgment to come, ver. 13, 14.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-13-anchored-1-7
And this is aptly compared to a cord, both for its figure, which is long and round, and for its use, which is to draw and move the parts of the body; and to silver, both for its excellency and colour, which is white and bright, in a dead, much more in a living body.
Or ever the silver cord be loosed,.... As the above are the symptoms and infirmities of old age; these in this verse are the immediate symptoms of death, or what attend it, or certainly issue in it.
The body shall become like a watch when the spring is broken, the motion of all the wheels is stopped and they all stand still; the machine is taken to pieces; the heart beats no more, nor does the blood circulate.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(2) A fountain, from which water is drawn by a pitcher let down by a rope wound round a wheel; as, when the pitcher and wheel are broken, water can no more be drawn, so life ceases when the vital energies are gone. The "fountain" may mean the right ventricle of the heart; the "cistern," the left; the pitcher, the veins; the wheel, the aorta, or great artery [SMITH].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Be loosed - The termination of life is signified generally by the snapping of the silver cord by which the lamp hangs from the ceiling; by the dashing in pieces of the cup or reservoir of oil; by the shattering of the pitcher used to bring water from the spring; and by the breaking of the wheel by which a bucket is let down into the well. Others discern in the silver cord, the soul which holds the body in life; in the bowl, the body; and in the golden oil (compare Zec 4:12) within it, the spirit.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַ֣ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵרָתֵק֙ | yirchak | it will be snapped | H7576 → | |
| חֶ֣בֶל | chevel | [the] cord of | H2256 → | |
| הַכֶּ֔סֶף | hakesef | <the> silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| וְתָרֻ֖ץ | vetarutz | so it may be crushed | H7533 → | |
| גֻּלַּ֣ת | gulat | [the] bowl of | H1543 → | |
| הַזָּהָ֑ב | hazahav | <the> gold | H2091 → | |
| וְתִשָּׁ֤בֶר | vetishaver | so it may be broken | H7665 → | |
| כַּד֙ | kad | [the] jar | H3537 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמַּבּ֔וּעַ | hamabua' | the water spring | H4002 → | |
| וְנָרֹ֥ץ | venarotz | and it will be crushed | H7533 → | |
| הַגַּלְגַּ֖ל | hagalgal | the [water] wheel | H1534 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַבּֽוֹר׃ | habor | the well | H953 → |
עַ֣דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֵרָתֵק֙it will be snapped
yirchakH7576 →
חֶ֣בֶל[the] cord of
chevelH2256 →
הַכֶּ֔סֶף<the> silver
hakesefH3701 →403 times
וְתָרֻ֖ץso it may be crushed
vetarutzH7533 →
גֻּלַּ֣ת[the] bowl of
gulatH1543 →
הַזָּהָ֑ב<the> gold
hazahavH2091 →
וְתִשָּׁ֤בֶרso it may be broken
vetishaverH7665 →
כַּד֙[the] jar
kadH3537 →
עַל־at
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַמַּבּ֔וּעַthe water spring
hamabua'H4002 →
וְנָרֹ֥ץand it will be crushed
venarotzH7533 →
הַגַּלְגַּ֖לthe [water] wheel
hagalgalH1534 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַבּֽוֹר׃the well
haborH953 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 360:14; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 361:9; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 362:13; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Gregory of Neocaesarea, PARAPHRASE OF ECCLESIASTES 12:6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.